


Is this- is this aLLOWED

by quiteheartless



Category: BBC Ghosts, Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: M/M, the captain comes out, the captain meets a gay couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-13 05:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18934597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiteheartless/pseuds/quiteheartless
Summary: When Mike's brother and his husband pay a visit to Button House, the Captain isn't sure what to make of it. After he runs away to think, the other ghosts get worried and beg Alison to have a chat with him.





	Is this- is this aLLOWED

“Mike!” Alison yelled as the doorbell chime reverberated throughout the house.   
“Who is it?” Kitty appeared out of nowhere, swiftly followed by the Captain, Pat and Julian.   
“Alison, I demand you tell us who’s at the door,” the Captain said, frowning.  
She sighed, and forced a smile to her face. “Mike’s brother’s visiting us for the afternoon.”  
“Mike has a brother?” The Captain asked, quickly smoothing his expression back into a frown as he failed to ignore Julian’s glance.  
“Lots of people have a brother,” Alison said.  
“Is he nice?” Kitty asked, her eyes sparkling. “Is he attractive?”  
Julian snorted, still eyeing the captain.  
“He’s lovely,” Alison replied dismissively. “But I think I should -”  
The ghosts strained to hear the end of her sentence as the bell echoed through the room once again. Alison cringed, holding her ears. “Remind me to get that fixed. Not,” she added quickly, holding up her hand, “right now. Mike!” She yelled again.  
“Coming,” he called from… somewhere in the house. She’d grown to love the dilapidated manor, but still struggled to identify where any sounds were coming from. It was worse that Mike couldn’t hear most of them, but she supposed that was an occupational hazard of living with ghosts.  
“Alison, I think that you did ought to tell us when you’re expecting visitors,” the Captain said, running to follow Alison as she walked down to open the door. “It’s only fair.”  
“We do live here too, you know,” Pat added. “Of course, don’t worry if it’s any trouble-”  
“Thank you, Pat,” Alison said. “Guys, please. I just want to make a good impression. I still don’t know Jack very well, and I’d appreciate-”  
“If we left you alone?” Pat said, crestfallen. “I understand.”  
“Pat, I’m sorry, I-”  
Mike appeared and grinned at her. “Talking to them again?”  
“Sorry,” she said. “They’re very talkative.”  
“Hey,” Mike said, “it’s okay. I get it. Just… tell lights not to mess around, okay?”  
The Captain nodded sharply. “You heard the man,” he said. “We’re to leave them alone for the afternoon.”  
Kitty’s face fell, and the Captain shook his head. “I won’t hear it, Kitty. Off you go.”  
“Thanks,” Alison whispered as he brushed past her - wincing somewhat as the edge of his arm dematerialised momentarily. Mike opened the door.  
“Jack, hey, how are you! Long time, right?”  
“Dude, this is one hell of a house,” Jack replied.  
“You’re telling me.”  
“I didn’t know you two were rich,” another voice said.  
Alison laughed. “Nor did we. How are you, Charlie?”  
The Captain turned round, still vaguely ushering everyone out of the room, and stared at Jack and Charlie. After the obligatory hugs and kisses between all parties, Charlie slid his hand into Jack’s, pressed against his side. The Captain furrowed his eyebrows, moving swiftly out of the way as Alison ushered the two men into the drawing room.

Mike awkwardly gestured to the sofa and Jack smiled, taking a seat. Charlie hovered nervously at his side, until Jack tugged on his hand, pulling him down to sit beside him.  
“It’s been so long since we’ve seen you two properly,” Alison said. “How are you?”  
Charlie relaxed slightly, and nestled into Jack’s side, taking his hand. Jack smiled as they exchanged a glance. “The adoption papers were approved last night,” Charlie blurted out, his eyes shining. Alison closed her eyes for a moment, once again cursing the ghosts, as the Captain appeared behind her with a sharp intake of breath.  
“The what?” he said, twiddling his swagger stick. Alison almost smiled; he was trying so hard not to look nervous, and failing dismally.  
“Adoption papers?” she said loudly. “How wonderful! Have you been able to meet the child yet?”  
“Children,” Jack said. “Twins.”  
“Wow.” Mike raised his eyebrows. “That’s… ambitious?”  
Charlie shrugged. “They’re so lovely, though. Just turned six. The adoption centre said we could just take one but they seemed so close we couldn’t bring ourselves to split them up.”  
“I can’t wait to meet them,” Alison said. “You should bring them over to visit.”  
“We’d love to,” Jack replied, glancing at Charlie.  
“Although, maybe you should… wait til we’ve fixed everything up,” Mike added.   
Alison laughed, nodding. She risked a glance at the captain; he was tearing up.  
“Are you okay?” she whispered, and he glanced up startled. She tried to ignore the strange looks Jack and Charlie were giving her, and nudged Mike, who launched into a conversation about their rapidly dwindling hotel plans.  
The Captain forced a smile - she assumed he forced it, at least, or else it wouldn’t look so pained. “Perfectly,” he said, his voice tight. “I… I should leave the two of you to it.”  
She blinked and he phased through the floor.  
The twins' names were Rosie and Annalise, Alison learnt, and they'd been waiting to be adopted for four years, even at such a young age. The conversation somehow passed onto the damn pigeon that still wouldn't leave, but mid-explanation, Pat appeared, an apologetic smile on his face.  
“Alison, Robin’s trying to eat the pigeon.”  
“Deal with it yourself,” she hissed, her eyes flicking over to Jake. She forced a laugh. “That’s out motto, right, Mike? Everything's broken in this house, so you just have to, y'know…”  
“Deal with it yourself, exactly,” Mike replied, staring at her. She nodded slightly and he rolled his eyes. Pat frowned.  
“Yes, well I would, but he’s got Julian to lock the attic behind him, and we really can’t get in.”  
“You can phase through doors,” she hissed, moving her mouth as little as possible.  
“Oh, right.”  
She glared at him, trying to avoid eye contact with the guests, and he vanished. She sighed to herself, closing her eyes in the near silence; maybe they’d finally got the message. Mike cleared his throat and she looked over at the three men, who were watching her expectantly.  
“Sorry,” she said. “Miles away.”  
Charlie frowned. “Are you alright, Alison?” He asked. “Mike was saying about your fall, and-”  
“Oh, was he?” She said tightly. “I bet that was really interesting.”  
“Alison-” Mike said.  
“Alison,” Julian said.  
“Alison,” Pat said.  
“Alison,” Fanny said.   
Alison forced a smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”  
“Alison, who are these…”  
“Don’t be rude, Fanny,” Pat chided. “It’s Mike’s brother and his…”  
“Husband,” Julian said. “By the looks of it. Say, where’s the captain.”  
“Oh, how-”  
“Fanny, if you’ve got nothing nice to say…”  
Fanny glared at Pat, and Mary appeared by her side. “Alison, I can’ts finds Kitty.”  
“It’s just… you seem a bit out of it,” Charlie was saying. “I’m just finishing my nurse training-”  
“A man as a nurse?” Fanny cried indignantly.  
“Alison,” Mary said again.  
“And I wonder if you’re still suffering from some long term effects from the trauma,” Charlie finished with half a smile.   
Alison barked out a laugh. “You can say that again.”  
“What my wife means to say,” Mike interrupted, taking Alison’s hand, “is that we’ve been to the doctor already, and it was very little help. They couldn’t find anything wrong.”  
“You could always try going private.”  
That time, even Mike laughed. “Yeah, no.”  
“You’ve got this house, though, you must-”  
“My great… step aunt - kind of - died. I got the house but we’re still as poor as we were before,” Alison explained, trying to block out the chattering ghosts behind her. She almost screamed as Kitty sailed up through the floor.  
“Alison,” she said, “Thomas is sulking in your bedroom again and-”  
“Again?” Alison cried, grinning awkwardly as Charlie glanced over, confused.   
“Oh, Kitty, there yous is,” Mary said. “I’s was lookings for yous.”  
Alison cleared her throat. “Mike, you left the tap on again?”  
“No, I-”  
“Can’t you hear it?” She stared at him imploringly as he shook his head slowly. “Well, I’ll just have to go and… turn it off.”  
She stood up and hurried to the door, slumping against the wall as she entered the corridor.

“Right,” she snapped, turning to the expectant ghosts. “What’s going on?”  
“Wells I founds Kitty,” Mary said. Alison raised her eyebrows.  
“I can see that, Mary. Pat, this is really unlike you. Why do you need me?”  
“Thomas is sulking-”  
“Kitty, I don’t actually care. My husband’s brother is visiting our house for the first time, with his new husband who I’ve literally met once, and now they think I’m crazy.”  
“To be fair,” Julian began, holding up a finger.  
“Don’t you dare finish that thought.”  
“Noted.”  
“Well, Alison, the thing is…” Pat glanced pleadingly at the other ghosts as Alison began drumming her fingers against her crossed arms.  
“Out with it.”  
“We’re worried about the Captain,” Kitty said.  
“He’s hiding,” Pat explained.  
“He never hides,” Fanny added. “Well, except when we all told him that we didn’t like him at all much, but at least then we had some sort of idea-”  
“Hang on, you all told him what?”  
They looked sheepishly at the floor and she twisted her hands as she tried to clear her head. “Fine, it doesn’t matter. Where is he? And is Robin still locked in the attic?”  
“Oh, no, I made that up.”  
“Wonderful, thanks, Pat.”  
“No problem- oh…”  
“Now now now, Alison, we wouldn’t be coming to you unless we really were worried-”  
“Really, Julian? Is that so?” she stared at him, eyebrows raised, and he stuttered out a feeble non-excuse. “That’s what I thought. Come on, guys. I really want to make a good impression. It’s hardly my fault if the Captain has decided to squirrel himself away to sulk. I mean, is it really that out of character?”  
“Just talk to him, woman,” Julian snapped. Alison raised her eyebrows, but the ghosts all muttered in agreement.  
“Fine. Fine. Where is he, then?”

Alison knocked softly on the door to the library, shooing the rest of the ghosts away. The Captain startled and turned to face her, clearing his throat and nodding politely.  
“Ah, Alison,” he said. “What can I do for you?”  
She hesitated. “Are you alright?”  
“Of course I am,” he replied brightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”  
“The others said you were sulking,” Alison shrugged. “And more to the point, you look more confused than normal.”  
“I don’t look confused-”  
“They’re worried about you, cap.”  
“Well they really oughtn’t be,” he replied, raising his voice. Alison secretly thought it was probably wise of him; the others were definitely hiding around the corner. Sure enough, she heard a stifled cough followed by some hasty shushing. She raised her eyebrows conspiratorially at the Captain and he permitted himself a half smile.  
“Is there something you want to talk about?”  
He hesitated. “Jack and Charlie- are they…”  
“Together?”  
He nodded thankfully. “Mm.”  
She smiled, inclining her head. “They got married… a few months before we moved in, I think.”  
He stared blankly at her. “Married?”  
“Mhm.”  
“They can do that?”  
“Yeah. Since… 2014 I think.”  
He blinked at her. “I didn’t know,” he said hollowly.  
She shrugged. “Well now you do. Look, did that help? I kind of need to go-”  
“Wait,” he said, almost desperately. She smiled and he frowned slightly, biting his lip. “They said they were adopting? Can- I mean- people don’t mind?”  
“Of course people mind. But most people don’t. And it’s legal, obviously, and things are getting better.”  
“I didn’t…”  
“Yeah, Lady Heather Button doesn’t strike me as someone who was that in touch with the outside world.”  
Julian snorted in agreement from outside and she smirked at the captain, rolling her eyes. “They’re incurable,” she whispered, and he laughed - he actually laughed. “Shall I leave you to think for a bit then?”  
He nodded, still frowning slightly. Alison had never seen him so vulnerable. She smiled kindly at him, and turned to leave.  
“Alison,” he said, and she stopped walking. “Thank you.”  
She smiled again. “Any time, cap. Any time.”

Alison and Mike waved at Jack and Charlie as they walked down the drive, Mike’s arm around her waist. “Come back soon!” Mike called.  
“Bring the girls!” Alison added. “We can’t wait to meet them.”  
They waved until the two men had driven out of sight, then Mike turned to Alison as he closed the door. “So… what happened this time?”  
Alison glanced around at the expectant faces of the other ghosts, and locked eyes with the Captain. “Told you,” she said. “You left the tap on.”  
“No, but really,” he said. “What happened.”  
“Robin got locked in the attic.”  
“He’s a ghost. He can phase through walls.”  
“Oh, right,” Alison said as they wandered through to the kitchen. “You know, I completely forgot that.”  
“Alison.”  
“What do you want for tea tonight? I think we’ve still got some gooseberries.”  
“Alison…”

 

The Captain cleared his throat as the rest of the ghosts watched expectantly. Alison leant against the door frame, shooting him a supportive smile as he glanced over at her. “I- er-”  
“Go on,” she said, “I mean, you don’t have to say anything yet, if you don’t want to, but-”  
“No, no,” he said briskly. “I’m ready.” He cleared his throat again. “It has recently come to my attention that - well - it’s now legal for two men to be in a relationship. Married, no less. And - as you may have gathered from Mike’s brother and his… husband-” he smiled slightly, shyly, as he said the phrase- “well, they’re even able to adopt children of their own.”  
Kitty stuck up her hand, bobbing up and down on her seat.  
“Yes, Kitty?” He sighed.  
“What about two ladies?”  
“Yep, that’s fine as well,” Alison replied, catching the Captain’s eye.  
“Well, we all knew that,” Julian said. “It’s hardly news worthy.”  
Pat glared at him. “Not all of us, Julian. Go on, Captain. We’re still listening.”  
The Captain smiled nervously, and Alison nodded encouragingly. “Well, I’d like to…” he cleared his throat again. “I just felt like I should say… I like men,” he said.  
Kitty giggled. “I like men too!” she said. “And women, and puppies and-”  
“That’s not… that’s not quite what I meant,” the Captain replied stiffly. Julian leant over and whispered in Kitty’s ear. She grimaced slightly and the Captain’s face fell, but he quickly schooled it back into an appropriate expression of relative calm.  
“Well, I can’t imagine thinking that about anybody,” Kitty said seriously, “but I’m happy for you that you feel able to share with us!”  
His forced mask of calm slipped and fell, shattering on the metaphorical ground. His eyes glistened with brimming tears and he stood completely still, shocked. Pat lay his hand gently on the Captain’s shoulder and smiled.  
“She’s right, Cap. I’m proud of you for having the confidence to come out in front of all of us.”  
The others murmured in agreement, and the Captain jumped as first Pat, then Kitty, then all the others wrapped their arms around him.

 

Mike popped his head into the apparently empty room, watching Alison as she smiled proudly at the empty space.  
“Everything alright?” he asked. She jumped slightly, then backed out, closing the door behind her.  
“Better, even.”  
“So what was going on earlier?”  
“Oh, the Captain was having a bit of a crisis.”  
“All resolved?”  
“He just came out.”  
“Oh right?” Mike said, frowning. “Oh,” he added, realisation dawning. “Jack and-”  
“And Charlie, yeah. I think it was the adoption thing that got him. I mean, he didn’t know it was legal, but… kids, I guess.”  
“He’s a bit broody.”  
She laughed. “Yeah, in more ways than one.” She took his hand, eyeing him mischievously. “Hey, they’re distracted, for now. Possibly all night…”  
He raised his eyebrows and she winked, and the two of them hurried off towards the bedroom.


End file.
